ENG-2011 — Page 266

226 Housing

to families affected by estate clearances, about 3 per cent to junior civil servants, 25 per cent to sitting tenants for transfers (including overcrowding relief), and the remainder to those affected by squatter clearances, removal of rooftop structures, victims of fire; natural disasters and emergencies, compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department, and other applicants.

Save for non-elderly one-person applicants, flats are allocated to applicants on the waiting list according to their registration priority and their choice of districts. For non-elderly one-person applicants, allocation is based on a 'Quota and Points System' in which priorities depend on the points an applicant has. These points are determined by the applicant's age at the time of registration, waiting time and whether he or she is already living in public rental housing. All applicants need to meet the HKHA's residence requirement and undergo a 'Comprehensive Means Test' and a 'Domestic Property Test' to qualify.

To speed up the allocation of some of the less popular flats, the HKHA has introduced an 'Express Flat Allocation Scheme' under which these flats are pooled for selection by eligible applicants on the waiting list. During the year, about 2 020 households were allocated public rental housing flats under the scheme.

The HKHA also offers accommodation to people whose squatter huts or rooftop structures are cleared by the Government, provided they meet certain conditions. About 170 people, affected by squatter and rooftop clearances were rehoused in 2011.

Home Ownership

New Policy for Resumption of the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS)

In response to the aspirations of low and middle-income families to buy their own homes, the Government has introduced a new policy for the resumption of the HOS. The new scheme is designed mainly for first-time home buyers with a monthly household income of less than $30,000.

The Government will allocate sites for this scheme to provide units with about 400 - 500 square feet of saleable floor area. More than 17 000 flats will be built over four years, from 2016-17, with an annual production of between 2 500 and 6 500 flats. As more sites become available, the planning target will be set at about 5 000 flats a year on average, depending on demand at the time.

The HKHA will be responsible for producing the new HOS flats. The first batch is expected to be ready for pre-sale in 2014 or 2015. To meet this target, the Housing Department has already started preliminary planning and investigations for sites identified in Shatin, Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long, and will commence similar work for other sites shortly. The HKHA will work out implementation details of the new HOS, including the allocation ratio between green form and non-green form applicants, income and asset criteria for non-green form applicants, benchmarks for setting affordable flat prices and premium payment arrangements.